Welcome to Litsy!

#whereareyoumonday

While still visiting Norway and England in other books, today I am concentrating on Costal Maine, the setting of this collection of stories/vignettes by Sarah Orne Jewett, who was a writer much admired by Willa Cather.

#weekendreads

I have a lot going on this weekend, but I hope to at least have enough time to finish the #ohcanada pick and #EBBR and #NancyDrewBR . Those are quick ones.

I‘m reading the Sarah Orne Jewett b/c of the podcast “One Bright Book” and it takes time to digest.

The bottom two are also slower for me #hashtagbrigade and #DoorstopKristen #KLBR .

🌹 Yes, lots of perennials and a vegetable garden.
🌹 🌹 Plum trees, strawberries, raspberries, rhubarb, beans, beets, squash, tomatoes, cucumbers, kale, arugula, chard, and more.
🌹 🌹 🌹 I haven‘t read the tagged book for years, but it is one I think of often. Spending your days tending to an herb garden in a coastal Maine village struck me as so idyllic. I should give it a reread soon.
#wondrouswednesday @Eggs

Reread of the novella was again ✨💫⭐️🤩. This is not for a reader looking for strong narrative drive. Rather it is a series of character and coastal Maine sketches described in exquisite language. It captures the simplicity and languor of rural summer so well that I am as reluctant to leave the story as the main character is to depart at the season‘s end. Reminds me a bit of Tove‘s “Summer.”

The related short stories included were superfulous.

Spent the better part of the day feeling like something stuck to the bottom of a shoe. Cricket though enjoys the lap time, a rarity during the day.

Take note of the endorsement Willa Cather💜 fans! 😁

I love the quote from the book at the bottom.

I‘ve decided to reread the Country of Pointed Firs instead of only reading the related short stories included. I really enjoyed the audio and I bet it‘s even better in print. That way the characters and setting will be fresh in my mind.

This can be categorized in the comfort read genre. 😌

What a quiet unassuming gem! ⭐️ A writer spends the summer in a small Maine fishing village, sketching the natural world and characters that inhabit it. It is all keen observation, not action or plot driven. Perfect antidote to reality currently.

In a way it reminds me of Tove‘s Summer Book, which I also really enjoyed, though it has less of a storyline.

Going to try to get a print copy for my shelves.

An ode to nature and small towns and their inhabitants. The narrator is an author who is staying in coastal Maine for the summer to work on her writing. No plot, just a character study and the country is definitely a character here. This book has me dreaming of summer and vacation now! (Picture is from Tahoe, far from coastal Maine, but it‘s what I kept picturing when she talked about the pointed firs and rocky shores)

I don‘t normally read blurbs, but I saw this one and bought the book based solely on Willa‘s recommendation. 😁

My homework helper. Every time I need to reposition, he waits impatiently then resettles himself on whatever surface of me is most comfy.

Original publication date 1896. Yeah, I know.
"There's no large-minded way of thinking now: the worst have got to be best and rule everything; we're all turned upside down and going back year by year."

"Being scuffed down all the spring made it grow so much the better, like some folks that had it hard in their youth, and were bound to make the most of themselves before they died."

"You could always tell when she was stepping about there, even when you were half awake in the morning, and learned to know, in the course of a few weeks' experience, in exactly which corner of the garden she might be."

"with a preface by Willa Cather" 85 cents
The main library on campus is being converted to office space. I am enjoying the stacks while we are still cohabitating.